The toys were first released in America and the U.K. in late 1986/early 1987 by Coleco Toys (the company that produced the monstrousCabbage Patch Kids) but lasted a mere two years before the company filed for bankruptcy, when the line was purchased and subsequently re-distributed by Mattel in 1990 with very minor changes (for example, a few of the vehicles were repainted).

The only real disturber of the peace and threat to the colonization program is the Shadow Force, led by the ingeniously named Emperor Dark, with his token bushy eyebrows, pointy beard, and slightly eccentric hairdo.Originally working as a scientist for Starcom, studying the mysterious Obelisks that had been discovered on Mars (thought by some to be artifacts left behind by ancient alien builders), he became disillusioned with the organisation’s methods, which led (upon him taking matters into his own hands) to an explosion, and his apparent death. Of course, he survived, with a little help from a fragment of Obelisk, and, after refurbishing and modifying some Robot Drones built himself a huge spaceship/base of operations as a means of recovering more Obelisks from different parts of the Solar System and using them to become some kind of god.

Dark’s three favourite officers (General Torvek, General Vondar, and Malvanna, a woman shrouded in mystery) are often found commanding missions to disrupt Starcom facilites or steal Obelisk pieces, and these are carried out by the Shadow Force’s countless Robot Drones. Frighteningly, Dark can see through the optics and hear through the audio receptors of these robots, and so use them to keep tabs on his backstabbing followers.

With technology and resources on a grand enough scale to rival that of Starcom, the peacekeepers have their hands full, with the most exceptional soldiers consistently finding themselves in the thick of the action as they defend the colonists against the destructive Shadow Force agents.

Vehicles

Of course, all of this is pointless if none of the spacecraft are good.Luckily, they are very cool indeed.

Starwing’s prestige vehicle is the Starmax Bomber, a powerful and versatile ship with sleek lines and copious weaponry. Flown by a crew of three, they carry a Warp Drive engine and are launched from Starbase hangers.

Starmax Bombers are capable of carrying two Starwolf fighters; one Magna-Locked to the top of the ship, and one tucked away in the cargo hold (launched with a Power-Deploy procedure). These one-man beasties have a big laser cannon on each wing, and an excellent way of unfurling as they take off.

StarCom’s forces also include a number of ground-based and cargo-lifting vehicles, but all the best action in the cartoon revolves around the space dogfights, and the battle starships really were the pick of the toys.

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Distinct from the clean, white and grey forms of the U.S. Space Force’s machines, Shadow Force’s vehicles are black and dark purple, with jagged, triangular profiles.

The equivalent to the Starmax is the Shadowbat, able to carry two small fighters on its wings, with a long range and a very strong primary laser.

The fighters are called Parasites; small and agile, like little offset pyramids, with miniscule wings that extend slightly and railguns that pop out of the sides.

Again, the Shadow Force had a number of other vehicles, but these were the two which featured most heavily in the cartoon. (All of the machines seen on the programme were available as toys, amounting to 24 different vehicles, 38 separately carded figures, and 8 larger 'playsets'. They all came in red boxes, and regularly appear on internet auction sites and at car boot sales.)

The Episodes

Starcom episodes generally feature the Shadow Force’s latest plan to threaten the peaceful inhabitants of the interplanetary communities, with Dash, Crowbar and Slim doing their best to foil and thwart Emperor Dark and his minions, often incurring the wrath of Admiral Brickley (or his delightful PA, Lieutenant Kelsey Carver) by sidestepping regulations. The banter between the three main characters is refreshingly sarcastic and witty compared with some of the other cartoons of the era, and a lot of the science used in the plots is spot on.

At http://www.nemesisworld.com/starcom/starcom_bible.html there exists a transcript of the 'Starcom Bible'; an astounding document rescued from oblivion as Coleco closed down, which contains detailed explanations of the scenario, personnel, vehicles and locations of the Starcom universe. It shows a real depth of back-story and character motivations, as well as some interesting descriptions of the high-technology portrayed.One of the best examples of this is in the section on the Starmax Bomber:

“The Starmax Bombers all carry the Transtar Warp Drive, which allows them to open a tunnel in hyperspace, allowing travel through a universe in which the speed of light is much faster than it is in this one. This provides faster-than-light travel without the problem of relativistic effects. This capability cannot be used among the innermost planets, because the strain on the space-time continuum too close to a star could cause the star to go nova, destroying all of the innermost planets. The safest distance for use of the Starbridges is outside the orbit of Mars.”

I’ve never heard such an inventive way of tiptoeing round Einstein’s famous theory, especially not in a justification for a toy.

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It’s a shame that the concept of Starcom wasn’t successful enough to save Coleco, nd run on for more episodes – I think it had legs.